The present invention relates to aqueous liquid detergent compositions and to the use of same for the cleansing of soiled hard surfaces such as appliance cabinets or housings, walls, windows and the like.
Alkyl glycoside materials such as, for example, higher alkyl monoglycosides and higher alkyl polyglycosides are known materials; are known, at least in certain circumstances, to function as nonionic surfactants; and have been suggested as being suitable for use in certain specially formulated detergent compositions. See in this regard, for example, Published European Patent Application Nos. 0070074; 0070075; 0070076; and 0070077, all of which published on Jan. 19, 1983 as well as Published European Patent Application Nos. 0075994; 0075995; and 0075996 which published on Apr. 6, 1983.
A relatively specialized category of cleaning composition of interest to the art is one which is often referred to as a liquid detergent hard surface cleaning composition and which is specifically designed or formulated such that it can be applied to a soiled hard surface of interest (e.g., glass, painted walls, woodwork, etc.) and removed therefrom (for example as by wiping with a dry or damp cloth) without a subsequent rinsing operation and without leaving a significant or unsightly residual film upon the surface after cleaning. Thus, for example, in Published South African Patent Application No. 666,781 there is described a hard surface cleaner composition which comprises from 1-10% of an anionic surfactant (e.g., alkyl sulfate or alkyl aryl sulphonate) or a nonionic surfactant (e.g., an ethylene oxide condensate of a fatty alcohol or of an alkyl phenol) and at least 20% of a 1:1 to 4:1 ratio mixture of an alkali metal (or ammonium) borate and sodium carbonate and which, at a 1% concentration in water, has a pH of at least 9.6.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,510 to William Edward Zenk (issued July 6, 1971) describes certain liquid hard surface cleaning compositions consisting essentially of from about 0.25 to 4% of certain selected anionic or zwitterionic detergents; from about 0.5 to about 6% of certain water soluble builder components; from about 1 to about 10% of certain selected organic solvents or solvent mixtures; and the balance being water.
In a recent journal article, namely "A Greasy Soil Hard Surface Cleaning Test" by Morris A. Johnson, JAOCS, Vol. 61, No. 4, pages 810-813 (April 1984), a series of commercially available solvent-based and water-based cleaners were tested for greasy soil removal effectiveness at various dilution ratios.
Hard surface cleaning formulations are also discussed in "Formulation of Hard Surface Spray Cleaners" by R. E. Johnson and E. T. Clayton, detergents and specialties, June 1969, pages 28-32 and 56. Formulations discussed in such article included (a) one which was composed of 1 weight percent of a nonionic surfactant (linear alcohol ethoxylate), 2.5 weight percent of anhydrous tetrapotassium pyrophosphate (builder), 5 weight percent of ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (solvent) and the balance water and (b) another which was the same as the former except that the indicated nonionic surfactant was replaced with a corresponding amount of a linear alkylbenzenesulfonate anionic surfactant. In said article, it is noted that the aforementioned nonionic surfactant-based formulation exhibited slightly more filming (i.e., being given a "moderate" film rating) than its corresponding anionic surfactant-based counter-part (which obtained a "moderate-good" film rating).